Stakeholders unveiled their wish lists for the EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council, before the TTC's first meeting Wednesday in Pittsburgh. The council had planned to approve an agreement on the way forward at the meeting, the European Commission told us. The joint EU-U.S. TTC statement sets out five areas of joint work -- investment screening, export controls, AI, semiconductors and global trade challenges -- and establishes 10 working groups. The export control panel will hold a joint virtual event for stakeholders Oct. 27. The American Chamber of Commerce for the EU set out priorities Tuesday for working groups it expects to be established. It seeks a "transparent and open stakeholder engagement mechanism" to ensure outcomes are supported by business. The European Consumer Organisation said consumer groups "support the voluntary exchange of best practices and information between regulators" as long as it doesn't weaken EU ambitions to better safeguard consumers. It said the EU recently tried to improve the transparency of its cooperation with third countries: "This is a positive process that should continue." The Information Technology Industry Council made requests, saying the TTC's work "can be best supported by a successor agreement to the Privacy Shield." Chips "should top the EU-US partnership agenda," Intel blogged.
Qualcomm scored a victory Wednesday against allegations it has a modem chip monopoly (see 2104020058 and docket 19-15159 in Pacer).The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit vacated a district court’s order “certifying a nationwide indirect purchaser class in an antitrust multidistrict litigation seeking injunctive and monetary relief under” the Sherman Act and California law. The three-judge panel cited “differences in relevant state laws,” which “swamped predominance.” Judges Eugene Siler, Jay Bybee and Ryan Nelson also cited the result in FTC v. Qualcomm , in which the 9th Circuit said the company’s modem chip licensing practices didn’t violate the Sherman Act, and “there was nothing to be enjoined because its exclusive dealing agreements with Apple did not substantially foreclose competition and were terminated years ago.” California’s “choice of law rules precluded the district court’s certification of the nationwide Rule 23(b)(3) class because other states’ laws, beyond California’s Cartwright Act, should apply,” the court said in Stromberg v. Qualcomm. The company and an attorney for Stromberg didn’t comment.
FCC commissioners OK’d a public notice on automated frequency control in 6 GHz 4-0 ahead of Thursday’s meeting, as expected (see 2109240048), it posted in Wednesday’s Daily Digest. The 6 GHz order in docket 21-352 “has already sparked a wave of low-power products utilizing the band indoors, offering increased Wi-Fi speeds that benefit consumers and businesses that rely on unlicensed spectrum for their homes and operations,” said Geoffrey Starks in the only commissioner statement: “This item is another step towards fully unleashing the potential of the 6 GHz band.” Initial proposals are due Nov. 30, comments on proposals by Dec. 21. The band “will be put to tremendous use, in particular helping WISPA members provide more capacity for their customers, as well as enabling them to connect more Americans in rural and exurban areas to broadband services,” the Wireless ISP Association said Wednesday. “Implementation of smart AFCs in the 6 GHz band will unlock an untold number of use cases for the next generation of Wi-Fi -- from faster stadium connectivity to lower latency Wi-Fi on school buses,” said WifiForward: “Spectrum is a limited resource, so quickly certifying and deploying innovative spectrum-sharing technology like AFC is essential to our wireless future.”
The FTC is changing how it investigates mergers and acquisitions, including making second requests accessible to all commissioners, the Competition Bureau announced Tuesday. Commissioner Rohit Chopra said his motion to “better secure ‘second requests’ and other information related to merger investigations” got 5-0 approval from the commission. “Commissioners have long been left in the dark on key documents,” Chopra tweeted. “For years, I was denied access to ‘second requests’ and other deliberative information, even as outside parties and FTC alumni got inside info.” Commissioner Christine Wilson recently tweeted about the lack of access. Before the change, access to second requests was granted only at the discretion of the chair. Staff will now provide the full commission with access through a secure system. The FTC is expanding the scope of market competition factors in second requests, potentially involving labor markets, cross-market effects and investment firm activity. Companies now must provide “certain foundational information,” including specifics on business operations and data maintenance, before submitting requests for modifications. The bureau said the changes are an attempt to make the best use of limited resources amid a recent surge in M&A filings.
Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou flew home to China Friday, released from custody in Canada, said a Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Saturday. The case was "an incident of political persecution against a Chinese citizen, an act designed to hobble Chinese high-tech companies," said the spokesperson. Charges against her were "purely fabricated," she said. The spokesperson said Monday, "The party and the Chinese government have the firm will and strong capability to firmly uphold the legitimate and legal rights and interests of Chinese citizens and companies." The U.S. agreed to dismiss its indictment against Meng at the four-year anniversary of her December 2018 arrest in Vancouver (see 1901280052) if she complies with a deferred prosecution agreement she reached Wednesday with the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn, said DOJ Friday. Meng admits to defrauding "global financial institutions" by lying about Huawei’s ownership in its Iranian affiliate Skycom. “There is no link” between DOJ’s resolution of the Meng case and the Chinese government’s release of two Canadian citizens detained in the country, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Monday. “We have an independent Justice Department, we can’t determine how the Chinese or others manage their business over there,” Psaki said. “We have made no secret" about the U.S. push to get Canadians detained in China released, she said. "That’s certainly positive news.” DOJ didn't respond to our follow-up questions Monday.
FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Brendan Carr will visit Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Tuesday to tour areas hit by Ida, before Thursday’s FCC meeting, which includes an NPRM on ways to bolster network resiliency. “They plan to meet with government and industry officials to assess the status of recovery efforts and consult on next steps that the FCC should take to assist in the restoration of communications networks,” said a Monday news release.
The FCC extended the filing window for FY 2021 regulatory fees to Monday, said a public notice Friday from the Office of Managing Director. Fees had been due at 11:59 p.m. Friday. The Arkansas Broadcasters Association emailed members Friday that it had been told about “glitches” in the payment system. The FCC didn't comment on the reported glitches but said the extension was intended to keep smaller entities from facing penalties. "We wanted to provide additional time before the end of the fiscal year, consistent with prior years, for especially small companies to make their payments to avoid penalties," emailed a spokesperson.
Sept. 30's FCC meeting agenda added an NPRM regarding SIM swapping and port-out fraud, in the Sunshine Agenda released Thursday evening. A draft NPRM circulated on the eighth floor last month (see 2108300061).
Groups raised concerns on 10-digit long code (10DLC) texting rules proposed by major carriers, during a Coalition for Open Messaging webinar. In an effort to curb spam, carriers are examining whether to require high-volume text senders to register with a campaign registry, and to impose higher messaging fees on all that don’t file, or potentially block them, the group said Thursday. Rules limiting texting “would have a devastating impact on our organizations, on the progressive movement’s ability to reach voters and our communities,” said MoveOn Executive Director Rahna Epting. She asked listeners to sign a petition urging members of Congress to stop the 10DLC rules and to offer testimony on how they use person-to-person (P2P) messaging. “We want all groups and organizations to be able to effectively and reliably communicate with their intended audience via text messaging,” AT&T said in a statement: “Our policies are designed to ensure that our customers receive the messages they want, while protecting them from unwanted robotexts. Our policies apply to all types of mass text senders and are consistent with industry best practices.” The carrier is in “a months-long grace period to scale our systems, collect feedback from interested parties and improve the registration process to ensure the integrity of the texting platform for senders and receivers,” AT&T said. Verizon isn't “involved” and doesn’t have changes pending, a spokesperson emailed. T-Mobile didn’t comment. P2P messaging is the “safest, most accessible way to reach voters and our communities,” the coalition said. Progressive groups relied heavily on texting during the 2020 election cycle to get members to the polls, said State Voices CEO Alexis Anderson-Reed. “Despite all the benefits,” carriers are imposing rules “that would stop grassroots organizations like yours, coalitions and volunteers from texting our community members,” said Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., in taped comments: She's working with other legislators to call attention to this.
The reconstituted Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council met virtually for a little more than an hour Wednesday, getting an update on the work it’s expected to do under its charter that expires in June 2023 (see 2103100054). CSRIC last met in March, wrapping up reports started during the previous administration (see 2012090055). “Every day in our lives, there are too many cyber events that have the potential to harm the safety and well-being of people and businesses all across the country,” said acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “No entity is immune from this threat," she said. "It is time to turn resolve into action.” The need for tighter security is more critical as 5G launches, she said. The promises of 5G will come “only if we properly secure our networks and the communications supply chain,” she said. Rosenworcel, who has made collaboration with other agencies a priority, said it's “really important” that the group will be co-chaired by Billy Bob Brown from the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (see 2109140057). “It really does take a constellation of partners all working together in order to achieve security and resilience for the nation,” Brown said. Co-chair Nasrin Rezai, Verizon chief information security officer, briefly discussed each of the six working groups and asked members to volunteer for assignments. They are: 5G Signaling Protocols Security; Promoting Security, Reliability and Interoperability of Open Radio Access Network Equipment; Leveraging Virtualization Technology to Promote Secure, Reliable 5G Networks; 911 Service Over Wi-Fi; Managing Software & Cloud Services Supply Chain Security for Communications Infrastructure; and Leveraging Mobile Device Applications and Firmware to Enhance Wireless Emergency Alerts. The working groups all focus on real world problems that face industry, Rosenworcel said: “These issues are evolving fast and it can often feel like we’re playing catch up.”